AHMEDABAD: This year, one Indian was deported every six hours from the US, according to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report released on Dec 19. The number of Indians deported has grown by 400% between 2021 (292 out of total 59,011 deported) and 2024 (1,529 out of 2,71,484). A senior officer of an Indian central agency said, "The fluctuations in removal numbers over the years can be attributed to various factors, including changes in US immigration policies, enforcement priorities, and bilateral agreements between the US and India.
The increase in 2024 may also reflect broader migration trends and enforcement actions targeting individuals without legal status in the US." During the Covid years of 2019 and 2020, under Donald Trump's first term as US president, a total of 3,928 (1,616 and 2,312, respectively) illegal Indian immigrants were sent back. Comparatively, in 2021 when Joe Biden took office as US president, the total number of Indians deported till the report's release in 2024 had reached 3,467.
ICE has already drawn up a list of individuals slated for deportation, and nearly 18,000 undocumented Indians find themselves facing the prospect of being sent back home. ICE data until Nov 2024 shows that 17,940 Indians are among the 14.4 lakh individuals on the non-detained docket with final orders of removal from the US.
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